Basketball: Elk girls prevail over Armstrong 56-47

Shelby Gracik leaned left and sank an under handed layup in the first half, after driving past Armstrong’s Lyrik Williams (4) and Rachel Russ (24). (Photo by Bruce Strand)

The Elk River girls fended off a struggling but competitive Armstrong team 56-47 in their final conference home game Tuesday evening.

The Elks led 20-13 after a first half in which each team shot poorly and sputtered with their ball handling. Armstrong took the lead in the second half with a full-court press that took a toll on the Elks.

However, Shelby Gracik and Jordyn Sohns each hit a 3-point shot in consecutive trips down the floor to give the Elks a 5-point lead and they hung on.

Gracik scored 21 points and Sohns was next with 14. Abi Scheid had 8 in the second half after sitting most of the first half with early foul trouble Anna Rollag scored 7, Molly Detloff 4 ad Jaime Langebehn 2.

The Elks clinched an above .500 finish. They’re 10-9 in conference and 14-11 overall with one regular-season game left, at Maple Grove on Thursday.

Armstrong is 3-16 in conference and 3-22 overall. The Falcons play rugged, physical defense that keeps them in most games, but have trouble scoring. The Elks beat them 64-56 in the earlier meeting.